Maria Butterly
The Meath native's creative talent has been acknowledged and recognised by respected bodies as diverse as the New York International Film and Music Festival overseas, where she was awarded Best Celtic Sound, and by IMRO here at home when she was a finalist in the prestigious Glinsk- Songwriting competition in 2011. Maria has already taken to the stage with first appearances in Seamus Ennis Arts Centre of Co Dublin - where she officially launched her latest work ‘Hero’ produced by Bill Shanley who also produced her previous award winning album 'Blue Mandolin'. She was the driving force behind a hugely successful fundraising concert in Drogheda’s TLT for Ukraine with renowned Irish musicians Donal Lunny, Sean Keane, Vladimir, which raised over €10,000,
Maria is a renowned vocalist and multi-instrumentalist on Guitar, Mandolin, Piano, Whistles and has always been busy as a touring recording artist, as in demand internationally as here in Ireland. Maria has graced stages in New York, Nashville, and California - where she resided for over two decades - along the way performing at hit venues such as Nashville’s Bluebird Cafe, The House of Blues in LA, and NYC's world famous Mercury Lounge. In that time, she has played alongside Bob Wooten from the legendary Johnny Cash’s Band, the golden-voiced Raul Malo of The Mavericks, the late Hal Ketchum, as well as our own home-grown superstars like the Hot House Flowers, Stocktons Wing, Damien Rice, Eleanor McEvoy, Nathan Carter, The Pogues, Donal Lunny & Sean Keane.
Maria also had the honour of headlining the Angelica Huston Gala Event at the Beverly Hilton in Los Angeles, and even performing her own song, Quiet Man, to Hollywood Star Maureen O'Hara on her 90th birthday. Both the National Concert Hall and Cork Opera House have also borne witness to her vocal prowess, with audiences in both eminent venues being charmed by her unwavering elegance on several occasions.
Although a diversified composer in a wide array of genres. She has a passion for Celtic music with a classical ear as she incorporates Irish instrumentation along with Orchestral timbres, giving her music a modern Celtic sound with a Classic cinematic appeal for Film, TV and even Games which can be heard on her new album of Celtic Sounds set to be released in Sept 2025.
Her music has been featured on programs i.e. RTE, Virgin Media One, TG4, SKY, Nationwide, Ireland AM, Seoige & O’Shea, Glor Tire.
Her song ‘Light up the Dark’ was runner up with Snow Patrols song ‘Run’ as soundtrack for a feature documentary titled ‘The Letters’. Her wide and varied arsenal of talents also saw her recently sign with the prestigious Avant Music Port agency to represent her music.
Having completed a Mentorship program with award winning Irish music composer Ray Harmon in scoring for TV, she is a graduate from Pulse College in ‘Audio & Sound Technology’ and Griffith College in ‘Music Producing for Games Development’. Currently she is completing the Masters program Post Graduate Scoring for Film, TV and Interactive Media in Pulse/Griffith College, Dublin.
"This album is the best local production to come out of Ireland since A Womans Heart"
- PETER BARDON, BARDIS MUSIC PUBLISHING
"This is a cracking album" - AIDAN BUTLER, MUSIC PROGRAMMER, RTE RADIO 1
"One of the strongest contestants ever on Glor Tire, utterly butterly" - JOHN CREEDON, RTE
"One of the great things about Maria's song 'Quiet Man' is that it is actually very contemporary - we aren't just playing to aging Maureen O'Hara fans, but several generations and it has that appeal…that feel of the movie and its characters, and Maria has captured that ambiance and universal appeal that "The Quiet Man" maintains in cinema history”. - JUNE PARKER BECK, EDITOR FOR MAUREEN O’HARA MAGAZINE
